Apparatus for the aspiration of lint and thread waste in textile machines



June 27, i967 APPARATUS NTT.

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ANd I@ TMF INVENTOR 3,327,457 Patented June 27, 1967 APPARATUS FOR THE ASPIRATION F LINT AND THREAD WASTE IN TEXTILE MACHINES Ludwig Linsl, Ingolstadt, Germany, assignor to Deutscher Spinnereimaschinenbau Ingolstadt Filed Oct. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 405,550 Claims priority, application Germany, Nov. 16, 1963, D 42,956 Claims. (Cl. 55-290) This invention relates in general to vacuum cleaning apparatus for the collection of lint or thread waste produced in the working of fibrous textile materials, and more particularly to a vacuum cleaning apparatus which is provided with a self-cleaning filter.

In the Iprior art, Vacuum cleaning apparatus have been used in connection with various types of textile machinery to remove accumulated lint and fibrous fragments produced by the cutting and clipping of threads. Generally, in such apparatus, the fibrous material was aspirated into a suction airstream and removed therefrom by filtering means, with the filtered airstream being either fed back into the room or disposed otherwise.

To obtain continuous, uniformly strong vacuum cleaning performance, it is necessary to maintain a clean filter surface, otherwise, the accumulation of fibres on the filter would quickly reduce the flow of air therethrough, and result in a substantial loss of suction efficiency.

The problem of maintaining a clean filter has proven to be a great nuisance, especially in vacuum cleaning apparatus used with spinning-mill machinery, where relatively large amounts of lint are produced by reason of their high speeds of operation, necessitating more frequent cleaning of the filter.

In vacuum cleaning apparatus of the prior art, vaccum ducts have been emptied against transport screens which act as filters to collect the fibres entrained in the suction airstream, and similarly, against revolving screen drum filters from which the fibres are continuous removed by means of a roll, for example, which, among other things, winds up the collected fibres.

It has also been proposed to equip vacuum cleaning apparatus with reversible shut-off means for the air line, provided at the end of the vacuum duct, which can be reversed at arbitrarily selected time intervals so that the thread waste is alternately collected on a fixedly disposed filter, and ejected, without perceptible interruption of the vacuum cleaning.

Insofar as they provide for a continuous cleaning of the filter, such systems are relatively complicated, and on account of their numerous auxiliary units, require substantial amounts of space, which may not always be conveniently available, as when these vacuum cleaning systems are to be installed on the frames of ring-spinning machines.

On the other hand, non-continuous filter cleaning always requires an interruption, or at least a temporary reduction, of the suction power.

The vacuum cleaning apparatus of the instant invention basically provides for the removal of fibrous material entrained in a fluid stream, such as, for example, the waste fibres from textile machines ingested into a vacuum cleaner suction airstream. As will be described in further detail hereinafter, the apparatus of the invention uses a filtering disc, such as a screen, which is rotated about its central normal axis for the collection of the fibrous material. The filtering disc extends transversely into, and completely across the fluid stream, and is eccentrically positioned with respect to the area bounded by its intersection with said fiuid stream. To utilize gravitational forces for the removal of fibrous material captured on the upstream side -of the filtering disc, said filtering disc is disposed preferably vertically, but any other suitable inclination may be used, depending upon the orientation of the fluid stream. The filtering disc should be of such dimensions as to not only cover the fluid stream from the eccentric position of its central axis, but also to have a substantial portion of its area outside said fiuid stream so that when the filtering disc is rotated about its normal central axis, the fibrous material held against its upstream side by the action of the fiuid stream will be removed from the stream and discharged from the filtering disc by gravitational forces, thus continuously providing a clean filtering area across the fiuid stream.

While the vacuum cleaning apparatus of the invention is primarily intended for use with textile machinery and their waste fibres entrained in air streams, it may be readily adapted, with the substitution of suitable components, for other uses, for example, removing sea-weed from water inlets.

In the form of the invention hereinafter described, in addition to the rotating filtering disc, there is provided a blower for creating a suction airstream to aspirate the fibrous materials, an enclosed duct for guiding said air stream through the filtering disc, and a filter box for collecting the fibrous material collected by said filtering disc.

It is therefore, an object of the invention to provide a vacuum cleaning apparatus, suitable for use with textile machinery, which provides for continuous filter cleaning without requiring any interruption or reduction of the suction power.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively compact vacuum cleaning apparatus of the aforesaid continuous filter cleaning type.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description following hereinafter, and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation View, of the apparatus of the invention, taken with the front wall of the filter box removed.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIG. l.

FIG. 3 is a plan view, partly in section, of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a filter box 11 is provided for the collection of the fibrous materials, said filter box 11 having a door 12 for the removal of said collected fibrous materials. A blower 13, is mounted in a conventional manner to the filter box 11 on its back wall 14, said blower 13 having a suction inlet 15 communicating with the interior of said filter box 11, and a discharge outlet 16 which exhausts outside said filter box 11. The blower 13 creates a suction air stream for aspirating the fibrous material, said air stream entering through a duct connection 17 and a plenum 18 mounted on the filter box 11. To provide better guidance for the suction air stream, an enclosed duct 19 is provided for separating the suction airl from the rest of the space within the filter box 11. The duct 19 is disposed within the filter box 11 and has an inlet 20 which communicates with the plenum 18 to receive ythe aspirated air fiow, and an `opening 21 disposed in coextensive spaced relation with, and facing the suction inlet 15 of the blower 13. On the side of the duct 19, there is installed a sliding and adjustable shutter 22.

A filtering disc 23, disposed within the filter box 11 extends into the opening 21 and completely covers the suction inlet 15 of the blower 13.. The filtering disc 23 is supported at its central normal axis by a bearing assembly 24, so as to be rotatable about said axis. The bearing assembly 24 and filtering disc 23 are so disposed as to position the axis of said filtering disc 23 eccentrically with `respect to the suction inlet 15. A cross member 25 secured to the filter box 11 in a conventional manner fixedly supports the bearing assembly 24 and the filtering disc 23.

Although the filtering disc 23 and suction inlet 15 heretofore described are circular, as shown in FIG. 1, it is understood that other suitable shapes can be used. However, the filtering disc 23 must be of such yshape and dimensions as to completely cover the suction inlet at all of its rotation positions, and must be of such size that the portion of its area which covers the suction inlet 15 can be rotated `out through the opening 21, so as to discharge the collected fibrous material. Accordingly, it is recommended that the diameter of the filtering disc 23 be at least twice the diameter of the suction inlet 15.

As shown by FIGS. 2 and 3, the filtering disc 23 is disposed vertically, so that the collected fibres can be removed therefrom by gravitational forces. While the filtering disc can be disposed at other suitable inclinations, depending on the orientation of the impinging suction air stream, it is essential that the inclination of said filtering disc 23 be such as to permit removal of collected fibres therefrom by gravitational forces when the fibre bearing portion of the disc is rotated out of the suction air stream.

For purposes to become apparent hereinafter, the crossmember may be regarded as dividing the filter box 11 into two portions, an upper portion 26 and a lower portion 27.

In the operation of the vacuum cleaning apparatus in accordance with the invention, the aspirated fibrous material is ingested into the suction air stream through the duct connection 17 and passes through the plenum 18 and the duct 19 and is held against the filtering disc 23 by the action of the air stream. If the filtering disc 23 were to remain stationary, its upstream surface would be quickly covered with fibrous material and a reduction of the suction power would result, and exist until the filtering disc 23 was cleaned. By slowly `rotating the filtering disc 23, the fibres pressed against it are carried sideways away from the suction inlet 15. Due to the suction air flow, however, the fibres tend to migrate to the central portion of the inlet 15 where the air velocity is the greatest. This tendency is favored above all by the air being aspirated not just perpendicularly to the filtering surface, but also funnel-Wise from the sides as well, by reason of the spaced relation of the opening 21 in the duct 19 where the filtering disc 23 passes through. Consequently, transverse forces work upon the fibres on the filtering disc 23 surface, so that they form pellets, or clumps of fibres on a filtering surface which is moving in relation to a suction nozzle, said pellets or clumps tending just to stay in front of the suction opening. Due to the continuous rolling movement, more fibres constantly gather together, until the transverse forces of the air stream are no longer sufficient to roll the fibre clumps, which have grown heavier, any further on the filtering surface and keep them in front of the suction inlet 15, so that said clumps are now carried on the rotating filtering disc 23 out of the range of action of the suction.

In the case of the vertically disposed filtering disc 23 shown in the drawings, the clumps fall of their own weight, when the suction action ceases, down from the filtering disc 23 and into the lower portion 27 of the filter box 11. Thus, the filtering disc 23 is constantly cleaned automatically, and the rotary movement thereof continuously brings a clean filtering surface in front of the suction inlet 15.

The arrangement shown in the drawings wherein the filtering disc 23 is vertically disposed provides a simple and expedient way of lachieving automatic filter cleaning. However, any other filtering disc 23 position is permissible, provided that it permits the action of gravity to drop the fibre clumps without requiring a special wiping device (not shown) which would constitute an unnecessary complication.

Although the apparatus of the invention could operate with free aspirated air fiow and without the duct 19 to guide the air fiow through the filtering disc 23, the inclusion of said duct 19 with its shutter 22 on the upstream side of the filtering disc 23, provides for better flow and separation of the suction air stream from the fibre waste collected in the lower portion 27 of the filter box 11. vBy the shutter 22 `an aperture 28 is formed, through which the fibre clumps can be removed from the area of the suction inlet 15, and an additional air stream can be produced which is necessary to create the transverse air flow forces to form said fibre clumps. The shutter 22 may be either fixed, or adjustable, as desired, in order to adapt the aperture 28 width to the requirements of a particular application of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the particular filtering disc 23 selected for illustrating y the invention is of the screen type, having a central hub 29, and a plurality of radi-al spokes 30. The dropping of the fibre clumps is additionally aided -by the fact that the spokes 30, shut off the suction air currents momentarily at the margin of the suction inlet 15 as they pass over said inlet 15, at a point which has already passed practically beyond the shutter 22.

Openings 31 are furthermore provided in the front wall 32 of the filter box 11 for the aspiration of additional air in such a manner that the air current passes only through the upper portion 26 of the interior of the filter box, 11 while the lower portion 27 thereof is maintained relatively draft-free for depositing the fibre wastes. Thus, it is possible on occasions to remove the collected wastes from the filter box 11 through the door 12,v without any disturbance or interruption of the aspirating or filtercleaning process, and without said Wastes being stirred upward, as, for example, Aby air currentsE resulting from opening the door 12.

Any suitable conventional means can be used for rotating the filtering disc 23. For example, the filtering disc 23 c-an 'be rotated by means of a motor 33 mounted to the wall 14 of the filter box 11. A friction wheel 34 mounted upon the shaft 35 of the motor 33 and disposed engaging contact with the edge of said filtering disc 23 v imparts the rotary motion of said motor 33 to the filtering disc 23.

It is to be understood, however, that the filtering disc 23 can Ibe inserted at any other point in the duct 19 that is suitable for filtering, and the particul-ar location described and shownby the drawings herein is purely by way of example, and not as a limitation.

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum cleaning apparatus for the aspiration and collection of fibrous materials, which comprises:

(a) A filter box for the collection of fibrous material, said filter box having a door for the removal of said collected fibrous material;

(b) A blower for creating a suction air flow, said blower being mounted to the filter box and having a suction inlet which communicates with the interior of said filter box and a discharge outlet which exhausts outside said filter box;

(c) A filtering disc disposed within the filter box and completely covering the suction inlet of said blower, said filtering disc being supported within the filter box so as to Abe rotatable about its central normal axis, said central axis being disposed eccentrically with respect to the suction inlet of the blower, and said filtering disc being greater in area than the suction inlet of the blower, and said filtering disc being also disposed so that gravitational forces tend to remove fibrous material captured by its downstream side;

(d) An enclosed duct disposed within the filter box, said duct having an inlet passage which communicates with the exterior of said filter box to receive fibrous materials aspirated yby the suction `air flow created by the blower, and an opening which faces, and is disposed in coextensive spaced apart relation to the blower suction inlet as covered by the filtering -disc to define a clearance passage accommodating the rotation therethrough of said filtering disc across the blower suction inlet, and for aspirating additional air from within said lter box to iiow along the upstream side of the filtering -disc transversely to the primary ilow of air therethrough induced by the blower, acting upon fibrous materials captured thereupon to aggregate such fibrous materials into clumps thereof to aid in their removal by gravity; and,

(e) Means for rotating said filtering disc about its axis whereby the iibrous material aspirated through the enclosed duct and aggregated into clumps held against the upstream side of the iiltering disc by the suction air iiow is removed from said air flow, discharged from the filtering disc by gravity, and is collected in the lter box thereby continuously providing a clean filtering area across the blower suction inlet.

2. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the filter box has an upper and a lower portion, with the lower portion being for the collection of the fibrous material, and the enclosed duct is disposed within the upper portion of said tilter box, and the blower suction inlet is disposed so that the portion of the filtering disc which covers it lies within the upper portion of said filter box, and the remaining portion of said filtering disc extends partially into the lower portion of said filter box, so as to minimize the .air circulation within said lower portion ofthe filter box.

3. The vacuum cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the blower suction inlet and the ltering disc are both circular, and the diameter of the filtering disc is at least twice the diameter of the blower suction inlet.

4. The vacuum cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 including an adjustable shutter operatively connected to said enclosed duct to selectively vary the effective clearance passage area between the upstream side of the iiltering disc and the opening of said duct deining said clearance passage to correspondingly regulate the transverse air flow aspirated therethrough.

5. The vacuum cleaning apparatus according to claim 4 wherein at least one opening is provided in the upper portion of the filter box to aid in the aspiration of the air ow regulated by said shutter.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 574,990 1/1897 Griin 55-408 X 653,518 7/1900 Martin 55-404 X 1,493,789 5/1924 Mullen 55-290 1,620,780 3/1927 Pease 55-1408 X 1,860,697 5/1932 Traviss 55-404 X 2,639,780 5/1953 Hardy 55-400 X 2,810,937 10/1957 Linnert et al 55-502 X HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner. ROBERT F. BURNETI, Examiner. 

1. A VACUUM CLEANING APPARATUS FOR THE ASPIRATION AND COLLECTION OF FIBROUS MATERIALS, WHICH COMPRISES: (A) A FILTER BOX FOR THE COLLECTION OF FIBROUS MATERIAL, SAID FILTER BOX HAVING A DOOR FOR THE REMOVAL OF SAID COLLECTED FIBROUS MATERIAL; (B) A BLOWER FOR CREATING A SUCTION AIR FLOW, SAID BLOWER BEING MOUNTED TO THE FILTER BOX AND HAVING A SUCTION INLET WHICH COMMUNICATES WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID FILTER BOX AND A DISCHARGE OUTLET WHICH EXHAUSTS OUTSIDE SAID FILTER BOX; (C) A FILTERING DISC DISPOSED WITHIN THE FILTER BOX AND COMPLETELY COVERING THE SUCTION INLET OF SAID BLOWER, SAID FILTERING DISC BEING SUPPORTED WITHIN THE FILTER BOX SO AS TO ROTATABLE ABOUT ITS CENTRAL NORMAL AXIS, SAID CENTRAL AXIS BEING DISPOSED ECCENTRICALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE SUCTION INLET OF THE BLOWER, AND SAID FILTERING DISC BEING GREATER IN AREA THAN THE SUCTION INLET OF THE BLOWER, AND SAID FILTERING DISC BEING ALSO DISPOSED SO THAT GRAVITATIONAL FORCES TEND TO REMOVE FIBROUS MATERIAL CAPTURED BY ITS DOWNSTREAM SIDE; (D) AN ENCLOSED DUCT DISPOSED WITHIN THE FILTER BOX, SAID DUCT HAVING AN INLET PASSAGE WHICH COMMUNICATES WITH THE EXTERIOR OF SAID FILTER BOX TO RECEIVE FIBROUS MATERIALS ASPIRATED BY THE SUCTION AIR FLOW CREATED BY THE BLOWER, AND AN OPENING WHICH FACES, AND IS DISPOSED IN COEXTENSIVE SPACED APART RELATION TO THE BLOWER SUCTION INLET AS COVERED BY THE FILTERING DISC TO DEFINE A CLEARANCE PASSAGE ACCOMMODATING THE ROTATION THERETHROUGH OF SAID FILTERING DISC ACROSS THE BLOWER SUCTION INLET, AND FOR ASPIRATING ADDITIONAL AIR FROM WITHIN SAID FILTER BOX TO FLOW ALONG THE UPSTREAM SIDE OF THE FILTERING DISC TRANSVERSELY TO THE PRIMARY FLOW OF AIR THERETHROUGH INDUCED BY THE BLOWER, ACTING UPON FIBROUS MATERIALS CAPTURED THEREUPON TO AGGREGATE SUCH FIBROUS MATERIALS INTO CLUMPS THEREOF TO AID IN THEIR REMOVAL BY GRAVITY; AND, (E) MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID FILTERING DISC ABOUT ITS AXIS WHEREBY THE FIBROUS MATERIAL ASPIRATED THROUGH THE ENCLOSED DUCT AND AGGREGATED INTO CLUMPS HELD AGAINST THE UPSTREAM SIDE OF THE FILTERING DISC BY THE SUCTION AIR FLOW IS REMOVED FROM SAID AIR FLOW, DISCHARGED FROM THE FILTERING DISC BY GRAVITY, AND IS COLLECTED IN THE FILTER BOX THEREBY CONTINUOUSLY PROVIDING A CLEAN FILTERING AREA ACROSS THE BLOWER SUCTION INLET. 